5w30 Quaker State Winter Blend 12,000 km, Subaru 2.5L n.a.

[oilyriser]

Car was driven 95% highway, mostly in warm weather. This oil could be called 0w30 according to the specs, but is labelled 5w30.

Half way through this interval, I was climbing long hills in warm weather, with the radiator half covered up. The engine bay was very hot, and I could really hear the valves clicking away. I tried to lug the engine as much as possible with an automatic transmission, but still couldn't bring out much lead.

Near the end, the engine was idling rough. It went away a bit, after filling up with Canadian gasoline, but after the latest oil change the engine idled perfectly again. I though the oil had thickened, causing the idle vibration, but in fact it had thinned. I don't remember the Redline 5w20 causing the vibration depite having the same final viscosity of 9.2.

Fresh oil made the car idle much smoother. Maybe it's the friction modifiers and not the viscosity that matters. I don't know.

Some new and 7500 mile used oil has been in the freezer at -7F for several days, and I can't see any difference in how they pour.

code:

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2001 Subaru Legacy 2.5L non turbo

2003/09/25, 2004/06/13,

2005/02/14, 2005/12/05



7926km Wal Mart recycled 10w30, 11123km Mobil 1 0w20/0w30 mix,

4500 km Redline 5w20, 12,000 km Quaker State Winter Blend 5w30



Jul-Oct, Dec-Jun, Nov-Feb, Oct-Dec



Fe 5.3 12 6.6 6

Cr 0.8 1.4 1.1 0

Ni 0 0 0 0

Ti 0 0 0.1 --

Ag 0.3 0 0.5 0

Al 2.8 6.4 7.1 4

Pb 0 1.6 4.7 1

Cu 3.0 1.9 2.8 2

Sn 0 0 0.1 0

Si 9.9 11 14 7

Na 0 5.7 15 9

K 0 0 1.5 4

B 3.0 133 16 --

Ba 0.4 0.2 1.1 --

Mo 1.2 67 560 71

Mg 11 29 10 --

Ca 1969 2709 2805 --

P 850 771 1203 --

Zn 970 1009 1329 842

S 3052 1938 5022 --

Mn 116 77 3.0 --

V 0 0 0.3 --

Fuel 0 -- -- 0

Gly 0 -- POS 0

Oxi 42 82 114 112

Nit 31 63 14 38

Sul 52 73 78 62

ZDDP -- -- 39 --

TBN 4.40 5.22 5.48 2

Kv40 -- 52.8 -- --

Kv100 10.4 10.2 9.2 9.2



VI -- 185 -- --

H2O 0 0 0 0

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[oilyriser]

I should add: air filter was an STP with thick fuzzy media used 12000 km before the start, and oil filter was Valvoline Maxlife VF3593A. The magnet on the drain plug had collected very little black stuff for this long use. Oil consumption was about 2/3 qt., none added.

The used oil appeared clear dark brown, but not grey or black from soot.

 

[Al]

Looks like it did a great job for you-especially with that oci milage. Great silicon #'s . Little bit of Na/K but for that milage it seems small.

Those subie's are amazing.

 

[AndyH]

quote:

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Originally posted by oilyriser:
I tried to lug the engine as much as possible with an automatic transmission, but still couldn't bring out much lead.

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May I ask why? Just to see if lead would increase in your UOA?

 

[addyguy]

From this, it looks like all there is in this QS winter blend oil is Moly and Zinc.....no calcium or other detergents?

It also looks like of all the oils, the re-refned Wal-Mart oil did the best job as far as wear numbers - I know this was during the summer months, but still, this is impressive!

 

[sebring01]

I can't read so well; what is right below zinc?

 

[oilyriser]

" quote:Originally posted by oilyriser:
I tried to lug the engine as much as possible with an automatic transmission, but still couldn't bring out much lead.

May I ask why? Just to see if lead would increase in your UOA?"

exactly!


On a per-mile basis, this one beat them all. But it was also the one with the most %age of highway driving. I think startup wear makes the most difference. Winter is the worst. I may do another UOA on the current fill of the same oil over the winter, though it won't have all that highway driving on it.

things not tested are shown by a --

Below Zn is S, for sulphur. Wearcheck gives that in their results.


The Na and K seem to be the same as in the VOA, so there wasn't any coolant getting into the oil. My coolant does drop slowly, but I haven't found the leak yet. Maybe I can bring out the UV light one night and take a look around.

I likely won't be leaving it in this long again, since it seemed to leave the car idling rather rough, and posibly lowered the fuel economy.

 

[bulwnkl]

Many of the 2.5-liter Subaru engines blow head gaskets. The first series leak internally, the second series leak externally, and the 3rd or 4th series they got the head gasket worked out and it seems to be reliable. I can't recall where 2001 falls; have you had head gasket problems before? Check on USMB.net for more and more detailed info on this issue.

Depsite the head gasket troubles for the 2.5, it still seems to be a tough motor (once you get the current-series HG in there).

 

[oilyriser]

This is a new short block. The old one did get a new head gasket after internally leaking combustion gas and externally leaking coolant. A piston broke into pieces 8 hours after they replaced the head gasket under warranty. I had parked the car. When I started it up again, there was a very loud banging noise. The new short block is a piston slapper, but it gets better gas mileage than the old one.

 

[oilyriser]

Same car, same oil, but over winter December to April, and 5500 miles instead of 7500. Many cold starts, lots of loud piston slapping; city & rural driving instead of all open highway, so more dust. It looks like my eyeball the dipstick oil life monitor worked well, and 5500 miles is good for winter driving, since the TBN is the same as the summer 7500 miles. The oil filter mounting area was spotless, with no trace of varnish, after these two rather long intervals, so I will continue going at least 5000 miles on the cheap oil, even in winter. I'm gonna sand off the blackening on one side of the dipstick, so I can watch for varnish buildup there, too.

The magnetic drain plug collected a lot more iron this time. It looked like 3x as thick buildup, but it seems it didn't show up in the UOA very well.

Hopefully the higher aluminium is from clay dust in the air from all the suburban sprawl construction going on around here. I cut open the oil filter, and didn't see any obvious metal chunks.


Current fill for the summer is...

Havoline 5w20.

code:

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2001 Subaru Legacy 2.5L non turbo

2003/09/25, 2004/06/13,

2005/02/14, 2005/12/05



7926km Wal Mart recycled 10w30, 11123km Mobil 1 0w20/0w30 mix,

4500 km Redline 5w20, 12,000 km Quaker State Winter Blend 5w30



Jul-Oct, Dec-Jun, Nov-Feb, Oct-Dec, Dec-Apr2006



Fe 5.3 12 6.6 6 7

Cr 0.8 1.4 1.1 0 0

Ni 0 0 0 0 0

Ti 0 0 0.1 -- --

Ag 0.3 0 0.5 0 0

Al 2.8 6.4 7.1 4 8

Pb 0 1.6 4.7 1 1

Cu 3.0 1.9 2.8 2 1

Sn 0 0 0.1 0 0

Si 9.9 11 14 7 10

Na 0 5.7 15 9 9

K 0 0 1.5 4 0

B 3.0 133 16 -- --

Ba 0.4 0.2 1.1 -- --

Mo 1.2 67 560 71 63

Mg 11 29 10 -- --

Ca 1969 2709 2805 -- --

P 850 771 1203 -- --

Zn 970 1009 1329 842 804

S 3052 1938 5022 -- --

Mn 116 77 3.0 -- --

V 0 0 0.3 -- --

Fuel 0 -- -- 0 0

Gly 0 -- POS 0 0

Oxi 42 82 114 112 79

Nit 31 63 14 38 46

Sul 52 73 78 62 79

ZDDP -- -- 39 -- --

TBN 4.40 5.22 5.48 2 2

Kv40 -- 52.8 -- -- --

Kv100 10.4 10.2 9.2 9.2 9.5



VI -- 185 -- -- --

H2O 0 0 0 0 0

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